Local Business

Local Business  » Two Important Keys to a Successful Business-Integrity and

Two Important Keys to a Successful Business-Integrity and

Article:

As a business owner and coach, I come across the issue of

building integrity and reputation on a daily basis. It is

something I feel strongly about, as who can build a business

without integrity and a good reputation. As business owners, we

know that if we want repeat business and referrals (both of

which are the foundation of growing our business) then we need

to include integrity and reputation in everything we do. Now,

this may sound like common sense, but sometimes business owners

forget these 2 important key concepts and make a mistake. That

one mistake, let's call it a step forward, can take their

business back 20 steps. From time to time, it may take them so

far back that they won't be able to recover and their business

will fold. So how can we, as business owners ensure that we are

continually moving forward in building our integrity and

reputation in a positive light? Actually, if we remember a few

simple "rules," then we can continue to build and grow.

Rule 1- Always be timely.

I know, this sounds like common sense, but how many times have

you been told something, and it has not been carried through.

For example, you ordered a birthday present and it was promised

you would receive it in 2 days (1 day before the birthday), and

then not received it for 4 days. Now you don't have the gift to

give because someone was not timely. This is a simple example

but I as a business owner live by this rule. In fact, if I tell

someone I will have their project to them by a certain time, I

shoot for 24 hours before. Why do I do this? What happens if I

plan to send it to them when it is due, but oops, my hard drive

crashes? They don't get the project on time-even though it was

finished in advance, and it puts them behind. This does not help

my integrity or reputation, and it will probably affect if the

client will do business with me again, or not.

Now, all of us understand that acts of God can interfere with

our work or we can make a mistake (after all, we are all human).

It's bound to happen sometime. So what do we do?

Rule 2- Always be honest.

This is a hard rule to live by, because sometimes you are so

ashamed of your mistake, you don't want to admit your

foolishness. Let me share a horrifying mistake I made that could

have destroyed my business. I was creating an e-book for a

client. I found beautiful pictures which I designed the cover

with and added throughout the book. I sent the book to her and

she was delighted. The day before she was to send it to her

webmaster to get it added to her site, I happened to realize

that the pictures were not royalty free, which means we did not

have permission to use them. I could have pretended I didn't

know and let the book go on the market and hoped that no one

said anything about the pictures and my client didn't get in

trouble. I didn't do this. I embarrassingly relayed my mistake

to my client as soon as I discovered it (who is by the way,

still my client). Because I was honest, she was understanding.

Now, do you think I charged her to fix this mistake? See the

next rule.

Rule 3- Always fix your mistakes immediately.

Do you charge for your mistakes to be fixed? Absolutely not! It

is not your client/customers fault that there was a mistake! How

did I fix my big mistake? I went and bought royalty free

pictures (with my money). I then redid the whole book (on my own

time). I stayed up late that night and got the book fixed and

ready to go. My client did not have to pay out a dime for my

Today's Popular Articles

• Canadian Women Home Based Business

• Business Article - Examples of Some Online Business Ventures

mistake. I took full blame and then went the extra step to fix

the mistake. This client has been with me for a year now, and

continues to refer me to everyone she comes across. We have a

wonderful relationship, that could have been ruined had I not

followed Rule #2 and #3.

Now these are just 3 rules to help you along the way in your

business. There are many more things we must do to build our

integrity and reputation, but if you follow these 3 rules, you

will not take those 20 steps backwards, but go 20 steps forward.

If you would like to see the book I did for my client, Kimberly

Chastain, you may visit her at www.kimberlychastain.com and

check out her newest book "Help, My Preteen/Teenager is Driving

Me Nuts!" If you have preteens/teenagers or children who will

eventually hit these stages, this is a fabulous book!

In the meantime, take the extra steps to grow your business by

being an honest, timely, and committed business owner!

© 2005 JERPAT

You have permission to reprint this article electronically or in

print, as long as the text and byline remain unedited. A

courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated.

About the author:

Patty Benton is the owner of JERPAT Virtual Assistants and

JERPAT Web Design, www.moretime4u.org, which provides affordable

administrative and web design support to coaches, small

businesses, religious organizations, and realtors. 

Additionally, Patty is a coach for new entrepreneurs interested

in venturing into the virtual assistance industry.  She has

developed a program that is affordable for all.  Visit her

coaching site at www.virtualvacoach